Looking Fit on the Outside, Feeling Fit on the Inside
You can tell a lot about someone from how they get out of a chair. You can't tell much at all about whether they slept well, laughed this week, or have anyone to ring on a Tuesday.
That's the bit the mirror misses. Looking fit on the outside is one slice of it. Feeling fit on the inside is the rest, and it's the bigger half.
We work to a model called Health-Related Fitness, the one we teach on our own FASTER Health and Fitness Level 2 Gym Instructor course. It has seven components: Emotional, Mental, Social, Spiritual, Medical, Nutritional and Physical. The Physical is the outside. The other six are the inside.
Jim's Gym exists to give you all seven in one place.
The seven parts of feeling fit
Emotional
This one is about how you handle what life throws, and whether you feel steady while it does.
Research on 290 people found that loneliness drags down both mental and physical quality of life, while the ability to bounce back lifts both and eases anxiety and low mood [1].
So we built the opposite of lonely. There's a members' WhatsApp group with 220+ people in it, quizzes, socials, and a podcast full of guests worth listening to. You can watch from a distance and enjoy meeting the characters. You can join in and be one of the characters. We like both sorts.
Mental
Your brain is part of your fitness, and it likes being used.
A review of 39 studies found that social activity tracks with sharper thinking overall: planning, working memory, spatial skills and speed [2].
So there's always something new to have a go at. The Healthy Habits Club runs a Book Club, a Craft Club and an Art Club with John Skelcher. Learning a new skill does you good. So does passing on one you already have, and you'll know more than you think.
Social
Being part of something, with a role in it.
Social connections, mucking in informally and volunteering are all linked with better mental and physical health [3]. This one made me sit up. A review of 21 trials covering 5,275 people found exercise programmes reduced or delayed frailty when they were run in groups, and did nothing measurable when delivered one to one [4].
Classes are live on Zoom, so there are faces, names and chat. The Friends of Jim's Gym Facebook group is free, public and 3,500+ strong. Michael put it better than I would: "Wonderful gym, and community, brilliantly led by Jim. A healthy habits club, healthy eating, a book and an art club, all for over 55s. Good value, too."
If you're one of the many looking for a new home after the Virtual Village Hall closes in September, this is the bit you'll recognise: we wrote about that here.
Spiritual
Nothing heavy. Just the part of you that finds meaning, calm, or a bit of quiet in what you're doing.
When researchers asked about belief and spirituality, people described strength, comfort and hope in hard times, plus a sense of belonging [5].
Andy's Tai Chi classes are where a lot of people find this, usually without going looking for it. You move slowly, you breathe, and something settles. The classes are very popular. We offer it, we never push it, and plenty of people come for the balance work and stay for the calm.
Medical
Knowing where you stand, and keeping an eye on it.
The international guidance is clear that exercise works best when it's prescribed, adjusted and monitored like any other medical treatment, rather than handed out in one size [6]. On falls, exercise shows the most consistent benefit of anything tested [7].
So we have our physio, and podcast guests who know their stuff, helping you stay current on your own health and keep ticking along nicely. The free Fitness MOT gives you five exercises to try at home, no scoring, retaken every four to six weeks so you can watch your own numbers move.
Nutritional
Eating in a way that holds up the rest of it.
Enough protein helps protect against muscle loss, and Mediterranean-style eating with plenty of fruit and veg is linked to better physical performance. The researchers are honest that the ideal amounts aren't settled [8].
Ian Thomas, our Registered Dietitian, runs monthly sessions and brings the good stuff: gems that make eating interesting, enjoyable and supportive of the life you actually live. No misery, no weighing your porridge.
Physical
And obviously the physical. No wrapping you up in cotton wool.
People doing moderate to high levels of activity had roughly half the risk of running into functional limitations [9], and the guidance favours a personal mix of aerobic work, resistance, balance and flexibility, adapted to you [6].
So we dance, we stretch, we lift weights, we get out of breath, and we have a shed-load of fun doing it. There are 15+ live classes a week: Strength with me, Zumba Gold with Row, Yoga with Virginia, Pilates with Aimie, Tai Chi with Andy, Dancercise with Anna, plus Balance. There are 1,000+ videos on demand for everything in between.
Putting it together
Any gym can give you the Physical. Plenty do it well.
The seven work as a web rather than a list. When researchers pulled together what quality of life actually means to more than 3,400 people, they found the parts don't sit in separate boxes. Health, independence, relationships, activity, emotional comfort, spirituality and the rest are so tangled that a change in one runs through the others [10].
Doing them one at a time, in seven different places, is hard work. Do them together and they push each other along. The class gets you moving and gives you the chat. The chat gets you back next week.
None of this happened by accident. I want the happiest members in the industry, and I'm competitive about it. Give me the chance and I'll make sure you have the best time going.
Quick questions, straight answers
Is fitness only about the physical side?
No. We work to seven components of Health-Related Fitness: Emotional, Mental, Social, Spiritual, Medical, Nutritional and Physical. The Physical is what shows on the outside. The other six are how you feel on the inside, and research on quality of life finds all of them tangled together [10].
Can exercise really help my mood and memory?
Yes, and the company helps as much as the movement. A review of 39 studies linked social activity with better thinking overall, including planning, working memory and processing speed [2]. Loneliness pulls the other way, dragging down both mental and physical quality of life [1].
How does a gym help with the social side?
By giving you people, not just workouts. It matters more than you'd guess: across 21 trials and 5,275 people, exercise reduced or delayed frailty when it ran in groups, but not one-to-one [4]. Jim's Gym classes are live on Zoom, with a members' WhatsApp group of 220+ behind them.
What's the spiritual side of fitness?
The part of you that finds calm or meaning in moving. When researchers asked, people described belief and spirituality as a source of strength, comfort, hope and belonging [5]. At Jim's Gym it usually turns up in Andy's Tai Chi classes. We offer it and never push it.
Where do I start?
With the Fitness MOT. Five exercises at home, no scoring, no audience, and you retake it every four to six weeks to see what's changed. Then pick one live class that looks like your sort of thing, and one that doesn't. The second one is often the surprise.
Your next step
Start with the free Fitness MOT. It takes a few minutes and tells you where you're starting from.
Then join Jim's Gym and get the other six alongside the press-ups. It's £12.99 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee, no contracts and no joining fees. Join for the year and get 2 months on me.
Seven parts of you. One place. It's never too late.
James Hilton is the founder of Jim's Gym, an online fitness community for adults over 55, based in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He set it up for people who want to keep doing the things they love, with classes, community and a fair bit of laughing along the way.
References
E. Gerino, L. Rolle, C. Sechi and P. Brustia, "Loneliness, resilience, mental health, and quality of life in old age: a structural equation model," Frontiers in Psychology, 2017. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02003
M. E. Kelly et al., "The impact of social activities, social networks, social support and social relationships on the cognitive functioning of healthy older adults: a systematic review," Systematic Reviews, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-017-0632-2
H. Douglas, A. Georgiou and J. Westbrook, "Social participation as an indicator of successful aging: an overview of concepts and their associations with health," Australian Health Review, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1071/ah16038
J. Apostolo et al., "Effectiveness of interventions to prevent pre-frailty and frailty progression in older adults: a systematic review," JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, 2018. https://doi.org/10.11124/jbisrir-2017-003382
J. Malone and A. Dadswell, "The role of religion, spirituality and/or belief in positive ageing for older adults," Geriatrics, 2018. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics3020028
M. Izquierdo et al., "International exercise recommendations in older adults (ICFSR): expert consensus guidelines," Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-021-1665-8
J. Guirguis-Blake, Y. Michael, L. Perdue, E. Coppola and T. Beil, "Interventions to prevent falls in older adults: updated evidence report and systematic review for the US Preventive Services Task Force," JAMA, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.21962
A. Ganapathy and J. W. Nieves, "Nutrition and sarcopenia: what do we know?," Nutrients, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061755
D. H. Paterson and D. E. R. Warburton, "Physical activity and functional limitations in older adults: a systematic review related to Canada's Physical Activity Guidelines," International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-7-38
K. M. van Leeuwen et al., "What does quality of life mean to older adults? A thematic synthesis," PLoS ONE, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213263
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